Ancestor worship figure

The object on display is one of mintadi (singular ntadi) sculptures associated with ancestor worship, which were placed on family altars and the graves of influential and respected individuals. The word mintadi language means guardians, custodians in the Kikongo. It was believed that their primary task was to protect the community. Images of women with children are also found among mintadi, representing motherhood. Researchers distinguish two types of these depictions: a woman holding a child or children and a woman feeding an infant. Both types are associated with fertility and are meant to support it. The sculpture in question presents a sitting woman, holding a child in her hands, wearing a characteristic headgear - a chieftain's cap, which symbolises the founder of the family, temporarily substituting for deceased chieftains. That means that the woman presented may have played an important political role. She most probably represents mfu-ma-ankento - a female chief, guarding fertility and preventing infertility that threatens individuals or the whole collective. Mfu-ma-ankento is the bringer of peace and serenity. She exercises authority over women. She is considered to be the female version of mfumu mpu, the local chieftain who performed religious and judicial functions in the Kingdom of Congo.

Katarzyna Findlik-Gawron